I try to live off of my income, but I tap my principal as needed. I think that many people try to protect their principal because they're worried about running out. I keep a basic spreadsheet that summarizes my holdings. I have a column to the right of the total principal that shows 3% of the princi...

Thanks again Alan S! Again...there were 5 beneficiaries...and 4 IRAs Three of the beneficiaries cashed one IRA and transferred the other three IRAs to an Inherited IRA. We count the cash from one IRA as part of our distribution. Another beneficiary cashed two IRAs and transferred two. I'm recommendi...

are there others that go ultra conservative at 10 years prior to retirement because they just can't stomach any loss? Thank you. Yes, except it was about 5 years before. I like intermediate bonds...taxable and non-taxable and CDs. I hope to beat inflation by one percent if possible. If stocks drop ...

Let's say that there are 5 beneficiaries of 4 Inherited IRAs (I-IRA). All beneficiaries have transferred 3 of the I-IRAs into their accounts. All beneficiaries cashed the smallest I-IRA. Let's say that each received $2000...that's a total of $10,000. Let's say that the correct TOTAL RMD amount for t...

I've had the Penfed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature for years. I just checked; it still gives 3 points for groceries and 5 points for gas.
I redeem with an Amazon egift card. It takes 2940 points to get a $25 gift card.
I do have Penfeds CDs until the end of January.

I have 60 month CDs with Penfed maturing in January. There is no way I would renew with that EWP. Me too...except mine is in Dec. Penfed is out. I'd rather go with Vang. Intermed. Muni....VWIUX... which is distributing around 2.8%...or maybe a brokered CD like 949763VK9 Wells Fargo Bk N A Sioux Fal...

...I plan to wait for an email until Nov. 9th since I've been getting emails for several years. If not I'll call them and ask for the $30 deal that you got. Of course, I'll also shop around. I would recommend calling them Monday or Tuesday and see what you can negotiate while pre-order pricing is s...

...I plan to wait for an email until Nov. 9th since I've been getting emails for several years. If not I'll call them and ask for the $30 deal that you got. Of course, I'll also shop around. I would recommend calling them Monday or Tuesday and see what you can negotiate while pre-order pricing is s...

I used their software last year, but I haven't gotten any email. :annoyed same here...no email Did you purchase it from H&R Block or somewhere else? I purchased my 2017 copy from Amazon. Perhaps they sent me an email with a reduced price to get my business directly? It makes sense. LadyGeek: After ...

Since I purchased the 2017 version of H&R Block tax software, I just received an email with a link to pre-order the 2018 version for $29.95. The "full" price is $54.95, so this is $25 off for ordering early. The 2018 software is estimated to be released and available for download on 11/9/18. There ...

dm200, These weren't part of a will or estate. I'm going by what the cemetery administrator told me I had to do to donate the remaining space back to the city. I only knew about the plots because somebody looked through my father's papers and found and envelope with a cemetery deed inside. I would h...

Thanks for starting this discussion. I have a city cemetery deed dated 1931; the cemetery is 800 miles away. My great uncle mailed it to my father a few years before he passed away. The cemetery was still active; I called; the superintendent answered the phone. He said that 3 of the 4 grave location...

I read Dr. Wm Bernstein's idea of having enough "safe" products for 20-25 years worth of drawdown dollars - and the rest invest any way you want even 100% stocks. That idea of securing your retirement funding first, then deciding on how to allocate the rest made sense to me. I vote for the above. I...

For taxable, I go with VWIUX (TTM is 2.9%) and the highest CDs I can find. On CDs, I usually read KevinM's contributions before I buy. I think that I can beat treasuries with CDs. I had a CD ladder going at ALLY ... but was concerned about the unwinding of QE - and the interest rate increases. So.....

How do you gauge your fixed assets or cash assets and their returns compared to say..... the 10-year with the 10-year showing .... about 3 % Ignoring the SEC yield listing - and looking at actual monthly returns... Do you stay with these widespread types of holdings, or migrate to purely the US Tre...

I'm in favor of having a safe pile in place before going into stocks.
You decide how big the safe pile is, but maybe a few years of income. I would leave the safe pile in AAA/AA bonds, FDIC CDs, or the equivalent.
A safe pile will keep you safer when stocks drop.

If you're looking for down clothing, consider looking at Feathered Friends out of Seattle. They sell top quality stuff that does the job. I bought a coat, pants, and a sleeping bag for winter backpacks in 2011...no issues after 7 years of moderate use. I use the coat and pants as my sleeping bag abo...

I would be wary about giving advice unless they are excited about receiving it. If you give advice, and things don't work out, it's all your fault. I'm in their shoes as I do not like stocks. I would skip the advisor and go all CDs or the equivalent. Maybe you could help them get the best CD yields....

I really like the distribution yield of VWLUX...the long muni, but I'm going to stick with VWIUX...intermediate. If I need to TLHarvest, I'll swap into limited term. After saying all of that, Baird's intermediate muni BMBIX is where I should be. It's much safer than VWIUX...but of course the distrib...

For the VPW spreadsheet, do you just use your investments, stock and bond funds etc, or do you also include your CD’s, money markets and high interest savings accounts? (Sorry if I missed that answer, but with 16 pages, its hard to digest everything ) Thanks I'm not an authority, but I used all inv...

I could argue either way pay cash or take the loan. I would pay cash...if I had enough...because I'm through with borrowing money. Tacomas are great vehicles; I drove one for almost 20 years. The Taco never had to go back to a dealer for anything except maybe an issue with the towing light harness. ...

Winter camping is great; you live by the sun. Go to bed by the sun and get up with the sun. If I'm with a group, we socialize around a campfire. The group thins out and discussions go on into the night for a few...not me. I carry at least one book to read in case I can't sleep during the night. Usua...

I didn't do anything. I never rebalance; I don't have a written plan. I thought briefly about buying some of a total stock market fund but decided not to. I believe that stocks are high risk; Intermediate AAA/AA bond funds/ETFs/CDs are a good place to be. I did look at tax loss harvesting; I'm not s...

I would bet that all of you have pulled out your envelopes and have done this comparison. CD: 300K will spin off $9600 a year with a 3.2% 5 year CD...but you get to keep your money. If you withdrew 20K per year, it would last 15 years. That would take one to age 90. 300K will spin off $28044 a year ...

I told my children that I preferred cremation, but that it was up to them. I preferred that they do it a no cost...if they could find a way. I forgot to tell them what I would do with my ashes; I'll put that with my "final papers" documents. I'm interested in family history, so I'm slightly interest...

I think that Alan's advice is worth listening to. He's given great advice through the years. His technical expertise has helped me. I'm not an expert, but I've run a number of SPIA calculators. If I was in my late 70s or 80s and my pile wasn't big enough, I might bite. Of course, I would do lots of ...

Bit confused by this thread but it sounds like TLH into the long term tax exempt bond fund is fine. Alternative would be one of the state specific bond funds but that is a less diversified holding. It seems like Vang. Limited Term Tax Exempt was the most recommended solution in this thread. That's ...

I'm getting ambiguous official answers. Has anyone here transferred shares from Computershare Transfer Agent to Vanguard? How was the process like and what specifically did you have to do to transfer shares? I only get annual statements from Computershare and I'm planning on mailing that, has that ...

If you ever have any doubt which fund is accruing interest daily, there is a tab at the top right corner of the Account Page which allows to check the Balance by Date. When you click on that, you'll actually how much interest you've accumulated for the bond (or money market) fund. Thanks! I'd never...

I then put it inside a waterproof case. But thus far, it has survived numerous canyons. I'm sure it has been below 2m too as I jumped into pools but I don't dare take it SCUBA diving as neither the case or the phone is rated to below 2m. My phone has not been tested like that. After almost every hi...

Come up with a new feature I want, and I'll fork out for it. The last time that happened was the iPhone 7 - I wanted the waterproof feature. So far it has worked very well. My thoughts exactly. Last year, I bought the 8 for the water proofing. No more zip lock bags when walking in the rain. The new...

In Progress... May 1...remove root...$132 Aug 2....xray....$125 Sep 4....implant...$2200 (Amazing...reminds me of when I stripped the spark plug threads on my 69 VW; a mechanic used some kind of sav-a-thread insert and then screwed in the spark plug) The dentist and the mechanic used a socket wrench...

I'm in the process of selling VWIUX to harvest a short term loss. As soon as the sale completes, I plan to buy VTEB or MUB to replace it for at least 30 days. VWIUX = Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Admiral Shares VTEB = Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF MUB = iShares National Muni Bond ETF W...

FWIW, I harvested losses from VWIUX on Tuesday this week. I exchanged it for a 2:1 mix of Long Term and Limited Term Tax Exempt. This ratio approximates both the current yield and duration of Intermediate. Good idea! I also harvested...all to Lim. Term Tax Exempt. Maybe next time... House Blend...t...

I harvested from VWIUX (V. Int. Muni) to VMLUX (V. Limited T. Muni) on Sep. 14th...today is Sep 22d. VMLUX has a loss big enough to harvest. I don't think that I need to wait 31 days to harvest this new loss....do I? I would not go back to VWIUX. I would go from VMLUX to V. Short Muni or V. Long Mun...

Speaking of MUB, I just saw an article that said that yesterday was MUB’s largest outflow in nearly two years. Did something happen in the municipal bond market yesterday while I was focusing on other things? I don't know the answer....but just some thoughts. Over the last month the 10 year treasur...

Have learned I was making another mistake. What? The LT national fund does not have "bonus dividends". Why? Because the SEC Yield calculation is based on shares outstanding. So, no bonus shares = no bonus dividends. See answer: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4130742#p4130742 Sorry...

Still not sure if it's worth worrying about since neither I nor my accountant will be calculating the daily interest and I can barely count on my gain-loss reports to show the correct basis on the easy stuff. I can't explain why ETFs are a problem when say TL Harvesting from VWIUX to MUB. I just kn...